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63-676: The Yurok people are an Algic-speaking Indigenous people of California that has existed along the Hehlkeek 'We-Roy or "Health-kick-wer-roy" (now known as the Klamath River ) and on the Pacific coast , from Trinidad south of the river’s mouth almost to Crescent City along the north coast. The people of the Yurok Tribe traditionally identify as Oohl , a Yurok word simply meaning “the people.” Some historic documents, like

126-517: A changing climate , the salmon which were once plentiful now face a drastic decline in numbers linked to water quality and fish health. This poses a serious problem for the Yurok whoose life and culture is closely tied with the fish of the Klamath and Trinity rivers . Yurok Tribal Chairman Joe James has said that if the salmon did not survive, neither would the tribe. With the removal of four dams along

189-415: A repurposed shipping container. The staggered releases allow the social draw of still-captive condors to keep the freed birds nearby so the team can observe the birds, who are outfitted with GPS transmitters. As of March 2024 11 birds (4 females and 7 males) have been successfully introduced, with another 5 or more being released this year. In 2010, 217 sacred artifacts were returned to the Yurok tribe by

252-535: A broad area from the Rocky Mountains to Atlantic Canada . The other Algic languages are the Yurok and Wiyot of northwestern California , which, despite their geographic proximity, are not closely related. All these languages descend from Proto-Algic , a second-order proto-language estimated to have been spoken about 7,000 years ago and reconstructed using the reconstructed Proto-Algonquian language and

315-445: A payment from her husband. For the most part, girls were highly valued in the family. The amount of money paid by a man determined the social status of the couple. A wealthy man, who could afford to pay a large sum, increased the couple and their children's rank within the community. When married, both spouses held onto their personal properties but the bride lived with the groom's family and took his last name. Men who were unable to pay

378-623: A portion of the Yurok's territory and some Yurok villages. The Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act of 1988, an acted passed by the 2nd Session of the 100th Congress of 1988, declared that Yurok descendants who have chosen to remain members of recognized tribes other than the Yurok Tribe of the Yurok Reservation - primarily the Resighini Rancheria , but also the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of

441-504: A process of changing the present narrative about who, and for whom, natural lands are managed. The return of the 125 acres - named 'O Rew by the Yurok - demonstrates "the sheer will and perseverance of the Yurok people". Joseph L. James , Yurok chairman, said: "Together, we are creating a new conservation model that recognizes the value of tribal land management". The Yurok see Redwoods as living beings and only used fallen trees to build their homes and canoes. The land that will be co-managed

504-675: A reservation of around 90,000 acres: by 1993, this had declined to around 5% of the original reservation. Carbon sequestration has enabled the Yurok to own approximately 100,000 acres by 2021. Because of this effort, the Yurok have been awarded the Equator Prize by the United Nations Development Program . Using the cap-and-trade scheme, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) issues one offset credit ($ 12) for each metric ton

567-684: A ritual dance. Shamans would use plants, prayer, and rituals to heal people and also performed ceremonies to ensure successful hunting, fishing, and gathering. Every year the Yurok came together for what was known as the World Renewal Ceremony , where songs and dances which had been passed on through many generations would be performed. Dancers would wear elaborate clothing for the occasion. Some sources refer to it Yurok society as socially stratified because communities were divided between syahhlew ("rich"), wa's'oyowok' / wa'soyowok' ("poor"), and ka'aal ("slaves"). The syahhlew were

630-438: A shift in management regimes." Forest management impacts forests on Yurok lands, since the environment is interconnected despite political boundaries. In United States forestry programs, Indigenous peoples are only given the right to "alienate the land but not to manage the vegetation." In the case of the Yurok, "vegetation management and Yurok culture and economy are closely linked" and as a result "the increasing unsuitability of

693-467: A tribal elder. "It's not viable. It allows polluters to pollute". Tribal member Marty Lamebear agreed that the carbon project had brought in money but said: "They buy our air, so they can, you know, pollute theirs." Angela Adrar, the executive director of Climate Justice Alliance , said: "The Yurok should have their land regardless of some program... The fact that they have to sell their forest to get back their land seems really backwards." In February 2024,

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756-425: Is giving members access to it". Through working with companies and organisations such as New Forests and The Trust for Public Land , the Yurok will employ a blend of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and western science to re-create the environmental conditions that existed in this region. The participation by the Yurok in the scheme has been met with concerns and criticism. "I'm not happy with it" said Jene McCovey,

819-626: Is one of two Algic languages spoken in California, the other being Wiyot (therefore they are culturally similar to the Wiyot people ) and is currently undergoing a successful revitalization effort. The Yurok have been living along the Klamath River for 10,000 years, with a lifestyle closely linked to the once abundant salmon. Some of their villages date back to the 14th century. There are descriptions of some contact being made with Californian Indians as far back as June 1579 by Francis Drake and

882-461: Is owned by timber corporations or is part of national parks and forests. This forest management has significantly disempowered the Yurok people and disrupted their ability to access natural resources, land, and practice Indigenous lifeways. The Yurok refer to themselves as ' Oohl ("person") or 'O'loolekweesh 'o'l / 'Oolekwoh (lit. "'o'loolekw [= "village"] dwellers"). Ner'ernerh / Nert'ernerh ("Coast people, i.e. Coast Yurok") refers to Yurok on

945-601: Is taking part in at the moment, including Orick Mill, Coffee Creek, Heliwood, Oregon Gulch and Condor Aviation. In 2023, the construction company carved out new channels for the Chinook salmon along the Sacramento River . They introduced vegetation into the channels to act as cover for juvenile salmon to hide in. Through oral tradition and archaeological records, it is estimated that the Yurok lands were originally some half-a-million acres. In 1855 they were confined to

1008-485: Is working with the local Redwood National and State Parks to restore the California condor to the area where they were last spotted around 1892. The Bald Hills are part of the Yurok Tribal lands. Due to the cultural and ecological importance of the condor, the tribe began a program in 2008 to reintroduce the condor. While based on the latest scientific protocols, Yurok Traditional Ecological Knowledge provided by

1071-663: The Pue-lik-lo' , Pey-cheek-lo' and Ner-'er-ner' were, and are, all still Oohl . The Yurok people live primarily within the exterior boundaries of Yurok Reservation and surrounding communities in Humboldt , Del Norte and Trinity counties. Although the reservation comprises some 56,000 acres (23,000 ha) of contiguous land along the Klamath River, only about 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of scattered plots are under partial tribal ownership. Most Yurok land

1134-686: The Bear River Band and the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation in its opposition. On March 20, 2024, the Yurok began a first-of-its-kind land deal to manage tribal lands with the National Park Service under a memorandum of understanding between the tribe, Save the Redwoods League and Redwood National and State Parks . Sam Hodder, president and CEO of Save the Redwoods League, explained that the agreement would be starting

1197-524: The Rogue River Wars which occurred in southern Oregon beginning in 1851 with fighting from June 17 to July 3, 1851, then again from August 8, through September 1853, and then again during 1856 from March to June. This article relating to the Indigenous peoples of North America is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This United States military history article is

1260-573: The Smithsonian Institution . The condor feathers, headdresses and deerskins had been part of the Smithsonian's collection for almost 100 years and represent one of the largest Native American repatriations . The regalia will be used in Yurok ceremonies and on display at the tribe's cultural center. Yurok Villages ('o'loolekw - "village") were composed of individual families that lived in separate, single-family homes. The house

1323-666: The Wakashan languages . Klamath and Salmon River War The massacres of Native peoples along the Klamath River are considered to be part of the California Genocide . The U.S. government issued an Executive Order creating the Yurok Reservation along the Lower Klamath River, compelling the indigenous population to cease resistance and relocate. This fighting is not to be confused with

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1386-408: The Wiyot and Yurok languages. The term Algic was first coined by Henry Schoolcraft in his Algic Researches , published in 1839. Schoolcraft defined the term as "derived from the words Allegheny and Atlantic , in reference to the indigenous people anciently located in this geographical area." Schoolcraft's terminology was not retained. The peoples he called "Algic" were later included among

1449-525: The natural environment and the spirit world. Peyerk from many villages came together to settle tribal disputes and also hosted tribal ceremonies. At these times, the peyerk would supply food and shelter for the Yurok people and special clothing for the dancers. Peyerk lived in homes at higher elevation, wore finer clothing, and sometimes spoke foreign languages. Yurok medicine people were usually women. Women would become shamans after dreaming of being told to do so. Another shaman would then assist her in

1512-528: The Klamath river which will open up near 400 miles of historic salmon habitat, it is hoped that the fish will return. Yurok fisherman Oscar Gensaw said "Once the dams are down, the salmon will know what to do." The Yurok are known globally for their arts that include basketry and regalia-making, and that salmon give the tribe the physical and mental strength for those arts. Tori McConnell, Miss Indian World 2023–2024, said that without salmon "we wouldn’t have had

1575-734: The Square or Hoopa Valley Reservation as the reservation to be held in trust for the Hoopa Valley Tribe, 25 U.S.C. § 1300i-1(b) 7; (4) recognizing and organizing the Yurok Tribe, and designating the Addition or Yurok Reservation as the reservation to be held in trust for the Yurok Tribe, 25 U.S.C. § 1300i-1(c) 8." Shermoen v. U.S., 982 F.2d 1312, 1316 (9th Cir. 1992) Fishing, hunting, and gathering remain important to tribal members. Basket weaving and woodcarving are important arts. A traditional hamlet of wooden plank buildings, called Sumeg,

1638-648: The Trinidad Rancheria and Big Lagoon Rancheria - "shall no longer have any right or interest whatsoever in the tribal, communal, or unallotted land, property, resources, or rights within, or appertaining to, the Yurok Indian Reservation or the Yurok Tribe." The Resighini Rancheria attempted to challenge the Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act in 1992 case Shermoen v. United States, 982 F.2d 1312, 1314 (9th Cir. 1992), but

1701-823: The Yurok Tribe’s unratified treaty with the Government of the United States (GoUS), refer to the Yurok Tribe as the Lower Klamath, Pulikla, or Poh-lik Indians to distinguish the people of the Yurok Tribe from the “Upper Klamath” or “Peh-tsick” Indians, who are now known as the Karuk Tribe. The name Yurok is derived from the Karuk word yúruk va’áraaras , meaning "downriver people; i.e. Yurok Indians". American ethnologist George Gibbs first recorded

1764-473: The Yurok can prove its forests have sequestered. After starting negotiations in 2010, the Yurok have paid off loans, supported schools, youth programming, housing, road improvement and off-reservation businesses through carbon sequestration. Land reclamation using the cap-in-trade revenue has allowed them to take control of land management and to sustainably harvest timber. Tribal Vice Chairman Frankie Myers said: "the most beneficial thing we're doing with our land

1827-505: The Yurok had its first Tribal Offshore Wind Summit to help native communities gain more understanding about offshore wind power and how the ever-growing clean energy developments could impact on the food, culture and income for Native communities. A central point emerged from the Summit that there could not be responsible offshore wind development "in tribal areas without tribal consent" and that tribal leaders were concerned about their role in

1890-446: The Yurok population had declined to 1350. By 1910 it was reported as 668 or 700. There were 5,793 Yurok living throughout the United States. The Yurok Indian Reservation is California's largest tribe, with 6357 members as of 2019. On November 24, 1993, the Yurok Tribe adopted a constitution that details the jurisdiction and territory of their lands. Under the Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act of 1988, Pub. L. 100-580, qualified applicants had

1953-586: The beach or a place near the water and dried the flesh. Salmon is the vital source of food and nutrients for the Yurok. Kaitlin Reed (Yurok/Hupa/Oneida) from California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt , described in 2014 the deep connection of salmon to the Yurok people and their identity: "Salmon are a gift from the Creator. Salmon are truly the essence of Yurok existence and foundational to Yurok identity for they would not exist without them." Fish census from

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2016-415: The brainpower or the physical power to create and maintain and preserve the beautiful culture that we see today." The major currency of the Yurok nations was the dentalium shell ( terkwterm ). Alfred L. Kroeber wrote of the Yurok perception of the shell: "Since the direction of these sources is 'downstream' to them, they speak in their traditions of the shells living at the downstream and upstream ends of

2079-407: The changed forest for Yurok subsistence helped push the Yurok to sell their land." The Yurok Fisheries Department works at reviving the streams and the runs of salmon and steelhead trout. Reforesting by tribal members helps to stabilize the banks of the waterways and reduce the sediment load. Yurok or Saa'agoch' / Saa'agochehl ("Yurok language") is one of two Algic languages spoken in California,

2142-605: The clean energy America needs, unless the industry "truly engages with the Native American tribes that suffered the impacts from previous natural resource extraction, it will be as dirty as the rest of them." On 6 March 2024, the Yurok Tribal Council voted to oppose offshore wind developments near the Yurok Coast. The Council gave several reasons on their Facebook page for this stance: The Yurok join

2205-448: The coast and Hehlkeeklaa ("Klamath River people, i.e. Klamath River Yurok") refers to Yurok who live along the Klamath River. Pueleeklaa / Pueleekla' or Puelekuekla' / Puelekueklaa' ("down river/downstream people, i.e. River Yurok") is used to distinguish themselves from the upriver (Klamath River) living Karuk ( Pecheeklaa / Pecheekla = "up river/upstream people, i.e. Karuk people"). Saa'agoch' / Saa'agochehl (" Yurok language ")

2268-491: The court ruling in the case found that "In the Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act, Congress sought to resolve the legal conflicts by: (1) partitioning the reservation into two reservations, designating the Square as the "Hoopa Valley Reservation" and the Extension as the "Yurok Reservation," 25 U.S.C. § 1300i-1; (2) distributing the escrow funds, 25 U.S.C. § 1300i-33; (3) confirming the statutes of the Hoopa Valley Tribe, and designating

2331-666: The crew of the Golden Hind . Fur traders and trappers from the Hudson's Bay Company came in 1827. Following encounters with white settlers moving into their aboriginal lands during a gold rush in 1850, the Yurok were faced with disease and massacres that reduced their population by 75%. In 1855, following the Klamath and Salmon River War , the Lower Klamath River Indian Reservation was created by executive order. The reservation boundaries included

2394-589: The decision making process. A major topic of conversation were the two Humboldt area wind farms and how the industrialization involved might impact the local ports and surrounding areas. Robert Hemstead, vice-chairman for the Trinidad Rancheria said that people from the tribes had come together "to move forward in a good way on renewable energy". Yurok Chairman Joseph L. James said that the tribes did not want to see other industries "take advantage of our natural resources and contribute little or nothing to

2457-400: The full sum of money could pay half the cost for the bride. In doing so, the couple was considered “half-married.” Half-married couples lived with the bride's family and the groom would then become a slave for them. Furthermore, their children would take on the mother's last name. In cases of divorce , either spouse could initiate their split. The most frequent reason for divorce was if the wife

2520-517: The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries suggest an estimated 650,000 to 1 million adult salmon used to make the run from the mouth of the river to Upper Klamath Lake and beyond to spawn. Also, more than 100,000 spring-run Chinook would return each year. Yet, by August 2023, the Yurok salmon festival missed its basic ingredient - salmon. Because of the scarcity of salmon, the Yurok have been catalysed into "the need to fight for their main sources of nutrition and for their very way of life". But with

2583-456: The local community." In 2023, Frankie Myers of the Yurok tribe wrote that since colonization began, natural resource extraction had devestated indigenous communities. This has led to a great mistrust of industry, so that when the offshore wind industry tells people about the great opportunities it will bring, native peoples remain sceptical. Further, during Yurok sacred ceremonies, mountain peaks are often used "which offer an unobstructed view of

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2646-426: The object. For instance, one human being would be ko:ra' or ko'r , two human beings would be ni'iyel , and three human beings would be nahkseyt . The Yurok traditionally fished for salmon along rivers, gathered ocean fish and shellfish, hunted game, and gathered plants. Yurok ate varied berries and meats, with whale meat being prized. Yuroks did not hunt whales , but waited until a drift whale washed up onto

2709-417: The ocean" and some of the last places that they can see the world as their ancestors had seen it. Yet the Yurok, traditional managers of their local ecosystem , had a lack of outreach from the corporations involved. In the future, tribal nations may decide to support offshore wind development, but that they "must be in leadership positions through every phase of the process". While offshore wind can help provide

2772-466: The only group allowed to perform religious duties. Furthermore, they had homes at higher elevations, wore nicer clothing, and spoke in a distinctive manner. The primary reason men became slaves was because they owed money to certain families. Nonetheless, slavery was not considered to be a significant institution. Overall, the higher a man's social ranking was, the more valuable his life was considered. When daughters got married, Yurok families would receive

2835-473: The option of enrolling in the Yurok Tribe. Of the 3,685 qualified applicants for the Settlement Roll, 2,955 people chose Yurok membership. 227 of those members had a mailing address on the Yurok reservation, but a majority lived within 50 miles of the reservation. The Yurok Tribe is currently the largest group of Native Americans in the state of California, with 6357 enrolled members living in or around

2898-409: The other being Wiyot . Between twenty and one hundred people speak the Yurok language today. The language is passed on through master-apprentice teams and through singing. Language classes have been offered through Humboldt State University and through annual language immersion camps. An unusual feature of the language is that certain nouns change depending upon whether there is one, two, or three of

2961-533: The people of the Yurok Tribe would refer to villages down river as Pue-lik-lo' (meaning 'Down River Indian'), villages upriver as Pey-cheek-lo' (meaning 'Up River Indian'), and villages on the Pacific coast as Ner-'er-ner' (meaning “Coast Indian”). However, all these terms were merely practical descriptions of how to get to or from a village location within the Ancestral Land of the Yurok Tribe;

3024-470: The relationship "has subsequently been demonstrated to the satisfaction of all." This controversy in the early classification of North American languages was called the "Ritwan controversy" because Wiyot and Yurok were assigned to a genetic grouping called "Ritwan." Most specialists now reject the validity of the Ritwan genetic node. Berman (1982) suggested that Wiyot and Yurok share sound changes not shared by

3087-413: The reservation for the benefit of the timber industry or a "fine stand of timber" prevented Yurok modes of subsistence. As such the researchers note that Yurok were divested from their forest resources for the following reasons: "by straightforward expropriation of their lands, as Yurok property rights were ignored and access to gathering sites was cut off; and through ecological change brought about by

3150-491: The reservation. The Yurok reservation of 63,035 acres (25,509 ha) has an 80% poverty rate and 70% of the inhabitants do not have telephone service or electricity, according to the tribe's Web page. Algic languages The Algic languages (also Algonquian–Wiyot–Yurok or Algonquian–Ritwan) are an indigenous language family of North America . Most Algic languages belong to the Algonquian subfamily, dispersed over

3213-569: The rest of Algic (which would be explainable by either areal diffusion or genetic relatedness); Proulx (2004) argued against Berman's conclusion of common sound changes. More recently, Sergei Nikolaev has argued in two papers for a systematic relationship between the Nivkh language of Sakhalin and the Amur river basin and the Algic languages, and a secondary relationship between these two together and

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3276-598: The social hierarchy that is crucial to the survival of a flock. Two condors were released in May 2022 from a pen in Redwood National Park. A third juvenile was released a few weeks later with the fourth being allowed outside the release pen in July. Each bird must leave the program area voluntarily after entering and exiting a staging pen with the birds being monitored for their safety by researchers who remain hidden in

3339-579: The speakers of Algonquian languages. This language group is also referred to as "Algonquian-Ritwan" and "Wiyot-Yurok-Algonquian." When Edward Sapir proposed that the well-established Algonquian family was genetically related to the Wiyot and Yurok languages of northern California , he applied the term Algic to this larger family. The Algic urheimat is thought to have been located in the Northwestern United States somewhere between

3402-510: The suspected homeland of the Algonquian branch (to the west of Lake Superior according to Ives Goddard ) and the earliest known location of the Wiyot and Yurok (along the middle Columbia River according to Whistler ). The genetic relation of Wiyot and Yurok to Algonquian was first proposed by Edward Sapir (1913, 1915, 1923), and argued against by Algonquianist Truman Michelson (1914, 1914, 1935). According to Lyle Campbell (1997),

3465-463: The term as 'Yourrk' while traveling with Col. Redick McKee in 1851, and mistakenly used it as the name of the tribe in his book, Observations on the Indians of the Klamath River and Humboldt Bay, Accompanying Vocabularies of Their Languages , published in 1887. These names all developed from the way the river was, and still is, centered in the worldview of the people of the Yurok Tribe. Traditionally,

3528-419: The tribal elders informs the restoration program. In preparation, they have tested local wildlife for organochlorine pesticides such as DDT and for exposure to lead . They built a re-introduction and handling facility and received a clear Environment Impact Statement . An adult condor was brought in to mentor four juvenile birds who would be released. An adult not only serves as a role model but also enforces

3591-443: The tribe's cultural resources said: "This is work that we’ve always done, and continued to fight for, but I feel like the rest of world is catching up right now and starting to see that Native people know how to manage this land the best". In 1995, researchers observed that "control of reservation and allotment [of] natural resources has been withheld from them [Yurok people] under the auspices of scientific forest management." Managing

3654-531: The world, where strange but enviable peoples live who suck the flesh of univalves." California condors (Yurok name 'prey-go-neesh') are understood as beings of great spiritual power by the Indigenous people in the Pacific Northwest and California . Yurok, Wiyot, and other tribes use the shed feathers in ceremonies to treat the sick. The Yurok Tribe Northern California Condor Restoration Program

3717-403: Was infertile . If the woman wanted a divorce and to take the children with her, her family had to refund the husband for his initial payment. Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. Alfred L. Kroeber put the 1770 population of the Yurok at 2500. Sherburne F. Cook initially agreed, but later raised this estimate to 3100. By 1870,

3780-476: Was bought by the Save the Redwoods League in 2013 after having been a lumber mill for 50 years. Plans for 'O Rew, originally one of dozens of villages on ancestral lands, include traditional redwood plank houses, a sweat house and a visitor and cultural centre. The centre will be displaying sacred artefacts from deerskins to baskets, as well as serving as a hub for the Yurok to carry out their traditions. Rosie Clayburn,

3843-596: Was built in 1990. The Jump Dance and Brush Dance remain part of tribal ceremonies. The tribe's involvement in condor reintroduction, along with traditional burning , environmental restoration , wildfire preparedness, the drought, and juvenile fish kill, was discussed with Governor Gavin Newsom when he visited in June 2021. The tribe owns and operates a casino, river jet boat tours and other tourist attractions. The Yurok Tribe Construction Corporation has several projects that it

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3906-507: Was owned by the eldest male and in each lived several generations of men related on their father's side of the family as well as their wives, children, daughters’ husbands, unmarried relatives, and adopted kin. Yurok villages also consisted of sweat houses and menstrual huts . Sweat houses were designated for men of an extended patrilineal family as a place to gather. While during their menstruation cycles, women stayed in separate under-ground huts for ten days. Additionally, inheritance of land

3969-399: Was predominantly patrilineal. The majority of the estate was passed down to the fathers’ sons. Daughters and male relatives were also expected to acquire a portion of the estate. Yurok society had no chiefs, but in each village, a wealthy man known as a peyerk acted as leader, who was trained by elders. The peyerk 's training would include a vision quest in which he would communicate with

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